Arsenal trounce Everton in Asia Trophy final

Playing his first game for Arsenal following his
transfer from Chelsea last month, goalkeeper Petr
Cech was called into action after eight minutes to
smother Gerard Deulofeu’s dangerous cut-back
from the right by-line.
However, the Gunners dominated possession and
they took the lead in the 22nd minute when Cazorla
chipped the ball forward from the centre-circle for
Walcott who beat goalkeeper Joe Robless in a race
for the ball and fired home from the edge of the
Everton box.
Everton had the ball in the net in the 41st minute
when Arouna Kone’s shot was deflected in after
Cech had tipped a Steven Naismith header against
the crossbar but the offside flag had already gone
up.
Cech made a fine save to turn away an angled drive
by Luke Garbutt early in the second half but Arsenal
then turned up the pressure with Walcott shooting
narrowly wide and Robless making good saves to
deny Cazorla and Hector Bellerin.
But the Arsenal pressure finally told in the 58th
minute when Cazorla received the ball from Ozil on
the right of the Everton box and cut inside before
firing a low shot past Robless at his near post.
Kone missed a glorious opportunity to cut the deficit
when he headed over an inviting cross by Phil
Jagielka on the hour and Arsenal took full advantage
of the let-off as Ozil played a one-two with Cazorla
before bursting into the box to fire past Robless.
Barkley got a consolation goal for Everton with 15
minutes left, firing a rasping left-footed drive past
Cech from 20 metres after the Arsenal defence had
been caught in possession in their own half.
Despite the defeat, Everton manager Roberto
Martinez was pleased with the benefits that his side
had gained from taking part in the competition.
“In pre-season, you don’t get many opportunities to
get a competitive game like that against the quality
of Arsenal and from that point of view, it was a great
workout,” said the Spaniard.
“Obviously we wanted to win and probably it
showed that we are in pre-season because the
lapses of concentration were very poor by our
standard. But all in all, I thought it was the perfect
way to stretch the squad and test it, and I think that
the benefits from this tournament will be immense.
Stoke City had earlier secured third place in the
competition after goals in either half by Steve
Sidwell and Marko Arnautovic gave them a 2-0 win
over a Singapore Select XI.